Spring is in the air

Yesterday, the temperatures in Athens reached 71 degrees. It was warm, sunny, and breezy. So, we got our acts together after naptime and got ourselves outside and to the park. We have several great parks in Athens, but the one we went to yesterday is the one right down the road called Southeast Clarke Park. It also has a dog park and baseball fields. The reason we go there though, is for the World of Wonder Playground. It's got tons of bridges, stairs, slides, monkey bars, and places to hide. We actually did lose Cyrus there for a couple minutes when both of us thought he was with the other one (we found him again...phew!), since the park was SO busy and full of people.

Today is actually cold and rainy, but I'm glad we got a day of sunshine and outside-time. It was sorely needed.

-Shirin

Sleeping away the beautiful afternoon. Oftentimes, by the time we actually get the boys awake and outside, the nice sunny day has cooled off quite a bit.

We also have fun inside, no matter what the weather is like outside.

Every day, my house is turned upside down by two little tornadoes, named Cyrus and Kai.

So, it was good to get outside for awhile.

My little (big) boy wanting me to stop taking pictures and climb up the slide with him.

Hiding with Cyrus in the "cave." He was pretending we were all bears.

A visit from Beth and a neighborhood party

Beth and I are still good friends, despite the fact that we don't see each other every second of our days anymore. She's still in Athens and working as a vet, some weeks full-time, other weeks part-time. We had her and her newish boyfriend, David, over for dinner this past Thursday night. It was really good to see her. I think she still plans to move out West to Portland, OR eventually, but right now she's still here and I'm glad.

Then, last night, my neighbor Sandra had a birthday party for her 1 year old little boy, Nicolas. I've become friends with several of the moms in my complex and it was nice for all of us to get together for his birthday. (Cyrus couldn't come because of his cough but Kai came with me). Sandra treated us by cooking real Mexican tamales and making Agua de Jamaica (the juice of a hibiscus flower). Yum!

-Shirin

Kai and David getting acquainted.

Now reacquainting himself with Beth.

He loves to stand all the time now.

I made sesame tofu and broccoli with noodles with an Asian broccoli slaw on the side and fruit salad for desert (we're on a diet). It was still yummy though.

Happy birthday, Nicolas! Kai got him some new blocks to play with.

Emilio, Nicolas' older brother, hanging with the little ones.

More friends! From left, Sandra, Helen, baby Lucy, Thomas, Emilio, and Aubrey.

Sandra serving up the tamales.

She made three types: one with red salsa inside, one with mole (pronounced moe-lay), and once sweet one with raisins. Loved them all, despite not being a huge corn meal fan.

All the babies gathering around the table for a chat about the blocks.

Home with my boys

I've been a stay-at-home mom with both boys during the last 3 days, since Cyrus has been sick with a cold and cough. I'd normally be home with Kai during those days, but it's SO much easier with just one. I have really enjoyed and embraced my all day marathon with two beings that need EVERY second of my attention by trying to learn how to keep Cyrus on task and develop a schedule for Kai that works.

The whole "schedule" thing has worked quite well with both of them. Cyrus and I write up a new schedule every morning that is something like this:

8AM Free play (Mommy eats breakfast)

9AM Art time (painting/playdough/cutting/gluing)

10AM Book time (Kai naps)

11AM Puzzle time

12PM Lunchtime (Cyrus has to pee before and after naptime)

1PM Naptime for Cyrus

2PM Naptime for Kai

4PM Outdoor time (chalk/park)

5PM Dinnertime

It might seem crazy to you childless people to define exactly when Cyrus needs to pee but, seriously folks, it's totally necessary! I usually have to fight him to sit on the potty after naptime no matter how badly he has to pee, but today he went to his schedule after he woke up, pretended to read it, and walked to the potty to pee. Voila...problem solved.

One thing that seems to be inherently working well is the relationship between Kai and Cyrus. They just get along so well. I'm sure we've fostered it, but I really can't take all the credit. They just like each other and have minimal squabbles over toys and my attention. Here are a few pics and a video of Cyrus singing for Kai. Today, every time Kai has fussed, Cyrus has rushed over to him and started singing Old MacDonald to "cheer him up," as Cyrus says. What a good big brother.

-Shirin

This picture was of them on the couch with me, so it's not the best, but it was so cute how they were huddled together looking at the end of Toy Story (Cyrus and I watched it while Kai napped).

This was during our 4 PM "Outdoor time." We learned about bark on trees and fungus on sticks.

Cyrus also learned that jumping into big puddles was fun. Now that I'm the mom and have to clean up the mess, I am even more grateful to my mom for always letting me get dirty as a kid. My instinct is to keep him clean all the time, but I squelch the urge because I was a kid who LOVED mud.

Cyrus likes to sit in the high chair that we reintroduced for Kai. We're OK with it, since he's more contained there and can climb up and down it without a problem.

Despite enjoying my time with the boys, it's always a relief when back-up comes home and helps maintain a 1:1 parent to child ratio.

As I reported before, Kai is pulling up and standing all over the place. In this case, he's standing and playing a duet with his big brother.

Yesterday, I felt a little stir crazy, so I decided we should use our time outside for a picnic. Cyrus munched on clementines while Kai played with his toys.

Then, Cyrus took some pictures of us.

He does quite a good job and I enjoy actually having pictures with me in them now and then.

Crazy baby video

Kai can stand!

Kai started pulling himself up the same time he started crawling last month. Maybe they go hand in hand, but I thought we might have a little interval between the two. But, I never did with Cyrus either, so I guess that's just how things go for my boys.

Now, he's climbing up on stuff and pulling up everywhere. Fun times.

-Shirin

Potty trained!

Well, Cyrus has actually been pretty well potty-trained for several months (he started right after Kai was born), but he's recently gotten to the point where he has had almost no accidents at all and takes a nap wearing underwear. He is still in pull-ups at night, but I understand that usually is the last thing to go.

He has a favorite little potty right outside our bathroom door where he can sit on his own and read books or have us read them to him. I swear...we can mostly thank books for his training. It was the only way we found to keep him happy and seated on his potty.

We're so proud of him and so relieved to have only one in diapers now.

-Shirin

His typical phrase is, "Daddy, Mommy. I pee potty. Come read me book!"

We usually stock a pile of books next to the potty for that very reason.

Since I was busy snapping pictures, he gave up and started reading Winnie the Pooh meets Gopher all by himself. Oh wait, this was actually a book called Uncle Elephant. (He'd already read the Pooh book at this point.)

Funny conversations with Cyrus.

Cyrus is so funny and verbal right now. We just can't get over him. The funniest and most interesting parts of his language development right now are his colloquialisms and nuanced-expressions.

The conversations below are examples of the first times he's used phrases like "Of course," "I can't hear you, what?," and "I'm busy." If he's this sassy now at 2, what will he be like as a teenager?

-Shirin

PS He does, however, say phrases like, "You're the best mommy ever in the whole world" and, "I missed you today," so there's still hope for him. :)

Busy:

Cyrus (in the bedroom): Daddy! Daddy! Come here.

Daddy: OK, I'm coming.

Cyrus (sitting at his little table waving dismissively): I'm busy, Daddy.

Be nice:

Mommy (speaking to Gabriel): Which one do you want to do?

Daddy: Blah blah blah (not answering the question).

Mommy (poking Gabriel): Pick one. You have to pick one.

Cyrus (running in): Be nice! You be nice to my daddy!

Attitude:
Cyrus: *Burp*

Mommy: What do you say after you burp, Cyrus?

Cyrus: *Burp*

Mommy: What do you say, Cyrus?

Cyrus: Not excuse me.

Bare feet:

Mommy: Who's that running towards me with bare feet? Who's got bare feet?

Cyrus: I'm a bear!

Of course:

Mommy: Hey Cyrus. What are you doing? Running around?
Cyrus: Yeah, of course.

What?

Mommy: Cyrus, where are you?

Cyrus: I can't hear you, what?

Mommy: Are you in your bedroom?

Cyrus: I can't hear you, what?

Mommy (in the bedroom): Oh, there you are.

Cyrus: I can't hear you, what?

Gabriel:

Cyrus: (Comes in the room) Mommy?

Mommy: Yes?

Cyrus: Gabriel wants you.

List:

Cyrus (whispering at the door after bedtime): Daddy, it's me. Daddy, it's me.

Mommy: What's wrong, Cyrus?

Cyrus: My list.

Mommy: Your list?
Cyrus: Yeah. My list is flying away.*

*(Reference to Frog and Toad story)

Lost:

Cyrus: Daddy, you get lost in store. You say (shouting), "Mommy! Cyrus!" Then we come find you.

Daddy: Oh, OK.

Cyrus: We say, "Oh, there you are."

Shrugging:

Mommy: What'd you do today, Cyrus?
Cyrus: Watch TV.

Mommy: What'd you watch?
Cyrus (shrugging)

Mommy: What'd you watch, Cyrus?
Cyrus (shrugging): I'm shrugging.

Brendan was here

One of the nice things about Brendan being 5 minutes away is that he can drop in whenever he gets an hour to come play with the boys and eat some food with us. Tonight was one of those nights and, at bedtime tonight, Cyrus whispered to me, "Brendan was here." That's right, sweetheart; Brendan was here.

-Shirin

Cold afternoon at the zoo

As I've written before, Athens has a lovely little wildlife zoo right in the middle of town, next to our favorite park and lake. A few days ago, Kai and I picked Cyrus up early from daycare and took a trip to the Bear Hollow Zoo. Their animal rescues include alligators, owls, black bears, opposums, turkeys, bobcats, bald eagles, and deer. Cyrus mostly just wanted to see the bears, but they were unfortunately hibernating as they are likely to do this time of year and hard to see.

After checking out the animals, we hiked over to the playground and bumped into my good friend Holly and her son Nate. It's so nice to be in a town where you can just randomly see people you know almost everywhere you go. It was cold but lots of fun to spend a few hours outdoors with my boys.

-Shirin

Cyrus running from exhibit to exhibit.

To try to make my life easier (and warmer), I strapped the baby to my chest.

He's so heavy, though, that my back still killed me. But, he remained like this the whole trip and was quite comfortable and warm.

I love the wild turkeys at this park. Cyrus seemed to like them too.

Gobble, gobble. (One big male with lots of hens).

After we got home, we bundled up in warm clothes.

Remember when Cyrus wore this outfit? Well, now it's being styled by little brother Kai.

Moment of zen

Frog, Toad, Cyrus, and Kai spending a little time together before bedtime. This longer video is mostly for the grandparents, who will enjoy watching and loving their little grandbabies.
-Shirin

Kai crawling for real--finally video proof.

Kai got two teeth for Christmas!

Just like his big brother, Kai has gotten his little teethies a bit later than average. My sis and I were late teeth growers too, so I think it's the Modaresi way. He was teething during his whole visit with my family in Rock Hill the week after Christmas and now he has two little white bottom toothies poking out. Luckily, he isn't trying to bite me with them while he nurses. Hopefully, in the next few months, he'll get a few more and start eating chunks of foods like avocado and tofu.

-Shirin

**It's quite hard to take a picture of little baby teeth. The blurry picture above was the best one I got. Here were my failed attempts below.

MLK Day and the chicken

I have been working my requisite Monday and Tuesday at the vet office this week, despite yesterday being a holiday (MLK Day). Since Gabriel was off and daycare was closed, Cyrus and Kai were home all day with Gabriel while I worked. Something inside my husband snapped that day, because he made me breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as cleaning the house and buying me flowers and chocolates. I'm serious. He also took Cyrus to the library to get a library card (with Kai in tow). I mean, he's always a great husband and father, but that was above and beyond. I don't know if I could do all that in one day and Gabriel has hardly ever made me that many meals all our years together, let alone in one day with two kids needing attention, food, naps, etc. He said it was a belated anniversary celebration. It was such a nice treat and surprise.

Work has been good this week too. I got to do surgeries this morning, and then this afternoon I got to treat a chicken. It was novel and fun. I really love chickens. I can't wait til I can get some one day.

-Shirin

This is what was waiting for me when I got home for lunch: veggie burgers, potato salad, and a cranberry salad. Yum.

My little note from Gabriel and the boys (Cyrus signed his name and wrote several other notes as well).

My little chicken patient. The poor girl is a pet bird and a breeding hen for her owner and got attacked by some of the other chickens in her coop.

She was really docile and sweet.

I cleaned up her wounds and bandaged up her little neck along with some pain meds and antibiotics. I hope she'll heal OK.